Praise Xenu! Tom Cruise Appreciation Post

Today is Tom Cruise’s fifty-third birthday so in celebration I’ve put together this post. Despite the title there will be no discussion on Scientology. This post is to praise Tom for his amazing contributions to cinema, his love of films, and his incredible work ethic.

Tom is a unique, truly amazing person. He has had a 30 year+ career with 41 movies to date, with no sign of stopping. The way Tom lives his life and the fact that he does his own stunts makes him almost like a real life superhero. Not only is he a great actor, but he excels at anything he puts his mind to. For instance, when he did The Color of Money he acquired the skills of a pro pool player.
One of the things that I love the most about Tom is that, in every role he does you can see his love of film shining through. This is one of the busiest guys on the planet and he still watches one film a day. I’m lucky if I watch one a week. Cruise produces many of his own films, including the Mission Impossible films. Tom has been instrumental in how the franchise has been molded and from the start he specifically wanted a different director for each film, so that each one would have a unique artistic vison and to keep them fresh. Tom is undeniably the world’s biggest movie star (heck there’s even Tom Cruise day in Japan). Screenwriter Ken Miyamoto has said Tom “has the best reputation in the industry, by far. He works his ass off and has this utter positive energy that he brings to the development phase, the set, and beyond. He’s the hardest working actor in the industry (and most that have worked with him have said so) and he’s known as one of the nicest actors to work with.” Actually, Tom is the LAST great movie star. (Please go read this great article to see more on why: http://www.popmatters.com/column/189265-tom-cruise-hollywoods-last-great-movie-star/)

Tom may at first appear to be a one note actor. A novice, casual film goer may think he only does action films and jumps on couches. But even the briefest glance at his career will show that he is so much more than that.

Tom believes “We take responsibility for our own lives and we create our own lives.” That is most definitely true as his career and life are definitely of his own making, formed by his ambitions and desire to succeed. So, happy birthday Tom! Keep doing you.